Startups

Boston device-maker Thync has been steadily gathering attention for its far-out claim that its next-gen gadget, a wireless wearable electrode for your brain, can tune your mood. It comes in two settings, “Calm” or “Energize,” and Thync claims their device can amp up your alertness like a shot of caffeine, or mellow you out like a good massage — all with a precisely designed pulse of current.
By and large, according to reports from the tech media and various tech and health professionals who’ve tried the device, it seems the company is delivering on its promise (I tried it myself and felt significantly blissed-out afterward). But for the first time, Thync has published a study that explains some of the magic behind their mad idea. And while it's still pending peer review, it does provide an appetizer of experimental evidence that their device, so far trialed by an army of some 3,000 test subjects, actually works. Read More

It’s late afternoon, and several Hill Holliday staffers are sitting on a couch, sipping Pabst Blue Ribbons and staring at a large television screen covered in tiny dashboard gauges. Dials wave back and forth and the team — a mix of Web designers, app developers, and the ad agency’s other creatives — looks on, mesmerized.
The dashboard, known as BrandFeed, allows companies to track their social media campaigns on Facebook and Twitter in real time, helping them to determine how they can best allocate their advertising dollars, based on how well they’re being received online.
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Cuseum, a museum technology startup, announced this morning that it has raised $1.2 million in seed funding.
Cuseum focuses on mobile technology for the art and cultural sector, allowing museumgoers to have more personalized experiences interacting with art in exhibits and galleries. The startup has also debuted a name change; it was formerly known as Spotzer.Read More

If you last visited Kendall Square 10 years ago and returned to the Cambridge neighborhood today, you’d think Jack had sprinkled around a bushel of magic beans. New buildings have sprouted, bars and restaurants have opened, and an East Coast Google campus has been completed. You can even ice skate in the winter or rent a kayak in the summer.
But one thing that hasn’t changed is Glenn KnicKrehm’s empty gravel lot in the heart of the square. The precious acre of property is still surrounded by chain-link fence, and KnicKrehm is still spinning his vision of building a $300 million arts and culture complex called the Constellation Center. Read more in my latest Innovation Economy column in The Boston Globe.

Ben Harvatine couldn’t point to a single time that his head slammed hard against the wrestling mat. He just felt progressively worse over the course of a practice at MIT.
“I’d had concussions before, but this one felt really different,” Harvatine says. “I couldn’t talk right, and was having trouble walking. But like every athlete, you find ways to rationalize it — maybe you’re just dehydrated.”
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The floor space dedicated to 3-D printers at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is growing faster than waistlines at the nearby casino buffets. Just a year or two ago, a handful of players took up a few tiny booths at the back of the Las Vegas Convention Center; today the sector is booming, and printer manufacturers have a whole section of the South Hall to themselves. Read More

How do you find the best person for the job, whether it's a gig playing your holiday party or designing a new logo for your company? A Boston startup called WhoQuest thinks it can supply the answer: just ask your social network, and let people vote the replies up or down. The recently unveiled site feels a bit like a people-focused version of Quora, the question-answering site that has raised about $160 million in funding.
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Just sharing some audio I recorded yesterday at a talk Peter Thiel gave at Boston University's School of Management; I moderated the audience Q&A afterward, which was a lot of fun. Thiel is on the road with co-author Blake Masters promoting his new book, Zero to One. I teased him a bit that his only tweet so far is a plug for the book... and his quick answer was that he went from zero to one tweets.
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Two April days, separated by a decade. Two college sophomores walk into the Charles Square complex in Cambridge to meet with prospective investors. They’ve both built apps to help students communicate with friends on campus, and attracted a small community of users.
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Last week, when Mayor Martin Walsh spoke with leaders within Boston's startup community about his goals for 2015, a theme emerged: He needs to do more to promote Boston as a place where innovation thrives. In the session, people around the room shared their stories about how the city's unique chemistry fosters a community of upstart businesses. And it was clear that those stories were only the tip of the iceberg.
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As we approach the biggest eating week of the year, I’ve noticed a growing number of entrepreneurs in Boston trying to figure out how to get onto your shopping list and into your fridge. And investors are trying to figure out how to get a piece of the next Annie’s Organic (acquired by General Mills for $820 million this fall) or Vitaminwater (acquired by Coca-Cola for $4.1 billion).
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If you missed the Angel Boot Camp at MIT’s Tang Center the other day, you missed a lot. Organizers Jon Pierce, Rob Go, and Jay Acunzo put together an amazing lineup of angel investors and brilliant startup savants.
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